december 25th! happy George Washington crossing the Delaware in 1776 to all who celebrate
if you don't celebrate that, then happy anniversary to the New Haven Railroad opening in 1848
Here we are, everybody! We made it! On such an important day! I’m sure I don’t have to remind you why today is important, but I’ll go ahead and tell you anyway. In Kentucky in 1900, a smallpox epidemic was raging with hundreds of people stricken. Never forget.
Kidding, everybody! Well, actually, that’s not a joke, but we know what day it is! Merry Christmas, y’all. Happy Hanukkah. Whoops, typo I meant Chanukah. No wait typo again I meant Hanukkah, I think. Happy Capitalistmas. Jesus was born on this day to remind us to head down to our local JC Penney to get 40% cashback if we buy seven of the same item. :) Wait … JC Penney … Jesus Christ Penney? That’s definitely something.
Christmas is the time of the year when we all agree to get on a 6 am flight from Laguardia to O’Hare and stay at my mom’s and then I follow through and no one else does and now I’m just here sitting on my couch with my beloved birthgiver as I compose this newsletter. Real nice work, guys.
It’s the time of the year when you’re putting on your cutest outfits, but it’s only to show off to your family. Instagram will be full of cute fits tonight. If they’re good enough, they should go on the gram. Will my fit go on the gram, you ask? We’ll see how I feel after I look at myself in the mirror for the 17th time.
This little polar vortex that canceled flights to Chicago and warned people not to go outside or drive or anything was really not as bad as we were told. Two inches of snow? Wind? In the Windy City? -7 feels like -29? Ok, that one isn’t cool — it’s freezing (sorry)! But bundled up, going outside was as easy as learning American Sign Language. I was born speaking sign language, and I was born going outside in the Midwest. Two of my favorite things to do. Third favorite thing to do is film my mom picking up Chinese food:
my mom picking up chinese food
But it’s the time of the season to spend days and evenings with your loved ones — for some it’s your hated ones — and eat good food and watch bad movies (like Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery HOT TAKE HOT TAKE IF YOU DON’T LIKE MY TAKE THEN I DIDN’T MEAN IT) and pretend you don’t have obligations coming back into your life soon. And if you’re not doing any of that, then it’s the time of the season to … uh … I guess, like, listen to a podcast or start using your gym membership or buy some new socks. All things I will probably do anyway.
I don’t wanna keep you all from your Sunday night plans, so I’ll keep this short. I don’t really like Christmas poems, but I do like poems about home. Here is one by Mary Oliver:
Coming Home
by Mary Oliver
When we are driving in the dark,
on the long road to Provincetown,
when we are weary,
when the buildings and the scrub pines lose their familiar look,
I imagine us rising from the speeding car.
I imagine us seeing everything from another place--
the top of one of the pale dunes, or the deep and nameless
fields of the sea.
And what we see is a world that cannot cherish us,
but which we cherish.
And what we see is our life moving like that
along the dark edges of everything,
headlights sweeping the blackness,
believing in a thousand fragile and unprovable things.
Looking out for sorrow,
slowing down for happiness,
making all the right turns
right down to the thumping barriers to the sea,
the swirling waves,
the narrow streets, the houses,
the past, the future,
the doorway that belongs
to you and me.
And here is a poem by me:
Coming Home
by Kerry Cunningham
When I arrive in the home of my mother,
after a cold L train to Chicago,
I count the seconds,
the steps,
the meows of my childhood cat,
until I sneeze.
And so I look out the frosted windows
and breathe loudly as a cry for help.
I blink as my eyes begin to water
because I forgot one very important thing about coming home:
I am so very allergic to my cat.
Anyway, you can decide which poem is better. One is definitely more relatable and emotional than the other, but I’m not gonna put words into your mouths.
But I hope you all are having a good holiday. I’m gonna go continue mine.
movie rec: The Pink Panther (2006)
book rec: Where I Was From (2003) by Joan Didion
music rec: Underneath the Tree by Kelly Clarkson